Press on. Stand out. Repeat.

Two hands with gold rings raised against a rain-streaked window, showing a sunset ombre nails manicure in blue, pink, lavender, orange, and gold tones, with the words "Summer Rain" overlaid against a cloudy sunset sky.

Summer Rain | Set Stories

—

by

Erica
in

Summer is over, unfortunately, and I’m just getting around to posting these sunset ombre nails. But just because my favorite season has come to an end doesn’t mean we can’t carry the summer vibes into the fall. I truly loved this set and will likely re-do it next summer. 

For now, let’s get into the steps I took to create these summer rain custom press-on nails.

Two cupped hands with gold rings displaying sunset ombre nails in pink, teal, lavender, orange, and gold, held up against a golden sunset seen through a rain-streaked window.
Golden hour, rain-streaked glass, and a full hand of sunset ombre nails.

The Vision

When I need to come up with a design concept for a new set of at-home nails, I rely on my 6-step design process called The POLISH Method. Using The POLISH Method helps me think through my nail art designs step-by-step so that I’m not lost in the sauce of my overactive mind. 

Point of View

I like my nails’ vibes to match the season (for the most part), so I knew this set would be one of the last summery sets I’d do for a while. Usually, I lean into bright, bold, and neon colors in the summertime, but this time around, I wanted to go the more “moody vibe” route with these nails. So that was my top design note to myself – summer, but make it moody. 

Origin

I love when one of my previous sets becomes the blueprint for another, and that’s exactly what happened here. I was so in love with the thumb nail art design in my “Low Hanging Fruit” press-ons that I wanted an entire set inspired by them. Additionally, one of my top 20 favorite songs of all time is “Summer Rain” by Carl Thomas. Since it rained what felt like every day in NYC this summer, that song was looping in my mind constantly, so naturally, it served as inspo. 

Two individual nail close-ups, one green and one red, held up against a rain-streaked car window overlooking a wet street, used as color inspiration for the Summer Rain sunset ombre nails set.
The rainy-day, color-everywhere mood that sparked this set’s inspiration.

Layout

If you know me, you can guess with about 80% accuracy that the nail shape on my hands will be medium almond. What can I say? I like what I like, but I love what I love. Almond also just made sense for this nail art design since “sunset” was the theme, the sun is round, and almond is the roundest nail shape you’ll see me in. I’m just not an oval girlie. 

Inventory

There were three main design elements in this set: color story, magnet gel + chrome for effective light transition, and the 3D water droplet effect. 

For the color story, I searched “what colors are in a sunset?” on Google to nail the sunset ombre effect. I found 10 colors that worked for each of my ten nails based on the gel nail polish colors I already had in my collection.

I think having a nice light transition as part of nail art is a great way to make sets more dynamic, so I used both my favorite fine particle magnet gel and ICE Gel chrome powders to achieve that effect. 

The star of the show in this summer rain-inspired nail art set was the 3D water droplet effect I created using a Poke gel base coat and my go-to glossy top coat. If I could find a way to make this effect work for each and every nail set I create, I would. I couldn’t stop looking down at my nails while I had this set on!

Sketch

Here’s a look at The Set Map I created for this set:

Hand-drawn nail art set map titled "The Set Map" for an almond-shaped Summer Rain set, listing gel polish colors and brands for a sunset ombre nails gradient including bright yellow, golden amber, warm orange, peach, coral, blush pink, lavender, magenta, dusty blue, and deep purple, with application steps and nail size notes for each finger.
Behind the scenes: the Set Map that planned every shade of this sunset ombre gradient.

Because this DIY custom press-on set wasn’t design-heavy, I didn’t use The Set Map template to practice or decide on design work, but it helped me map out the color story clearly. I didn’t want to use the sunset colors randomly. Being intentional about the color story was incredibly important because I wanted an overall gradient effect when looking at the set as a whole. 

Highlight & Harmonize

As I mentioned in the Sketch section above, this nail art set is meant to be taken in holistically. Each nail makes sense only when viewed amongst all of the others. That’s where the harmony lies here. They’re only sunset nails because each nail is a moment in time of the entire event that is a sunset.  

The Execution

Split image of two hands against a tan textured background showing close-up detail of sunset ombre nails, left hand in teal, magenta, and lavender tones and right hand in copper, silver, and rose gold tones with visible chrome and shimmer finish.
Up close with the sunset ombre nails gradient, left hand to right.

Technically speaking, this was actually one of the simplest nail art design sets I’ve done to date, so let me “keep my ting brief” here. I went through the key design elements in the “Inventory” section, and I’m going to break down how I executed all of the nail art in the Nail by Nail section below. One adjustment I would make in the future is that I’d choose more distinct yellows for the lighter end of the color palette. I feel like the thumb and index finger of my right hand look so similar that you don’t get the gradient effect strongly enough at that end of the set.  

Nail by Nail

Ten almond-shaped press-on nail tips arranged in two rows on a white background, displaying a sunset ombre nails color gradient from bright yellow and golden amber through coral, blush pink, teal, and deep purple, bordered by a rain droplet graphic.
The full Summer Rain set: ten sunset ombre nails, one color story.

First up, prep: buff and etch the nails! 

I etch the underside of each nail with an e-file to create a rough surface so the nails stay on for at least 2 weeks after application. I then buff the top of each nail to ensure the gel polish does not peel off. 

Besides the different color gel polishes and chrome powders used, there wasn’t much variation in this set, so each nail design was executed the same way. 

All Five Nails:

  1. Clear base coat, 1 coat, fully cure
  2. Solid color polish all over nail, 2 coats, fully cure between each coat
  3. Magnet gel polish all over nail, 1 coat, use magnet to create desired pattern, fully cure between each coat
  4. Jelly color polish all over nail, 2 coats, fully cure between each coat
  5. Chrome top coat all over nail, 1 coat, fully cure
  6. Rub in chrome powder all over nail, brush away any excess powder
  7. Using a lint-free wipe with a little bit of 70% isopropyl alcohol on it, wipe just the border of the entire nail, just along the edge as to not disturb the chrome powder 
  8. Clear top coat all over nail, 1 coat, fully cure
  9. Clear builder gel, 1 coat, fully cure
  10. Poke base gel all over nail, 1 coat, fully cure
  11. Lightly dab glossy top coat randomly all around the nail to create a patchy look, watch the polish beads move and fully cure as soon as you see your desired look

Here are a few more tips I think are non-negotiables:

  • Always follow the curing instructions based on the safety guidelines for each specific product.
  • Use an appropriate UV/LED lamp – at least 48W. Those handheld flashlight ones and tiny 1-nail-at-a-time lamps do not completely cure gel polishes.  
  • Wear nitrile gloves at all times when handling gel products!

Here’s a step I never skip when making homemade press-on nails: 

After each set is done, even when the non-wipe top coat is fully cured, there is likely some residue left on the press-on nails. So I do the following:

  • Wipe each nail with a lint-free wipe dampened with 70% isopropyl alcohol. 
  • Follow with a second lint-free wipe dampened with water and a drop of Dawn dish soap. 
  • Finish with one final wipe using 70% isopropyl alcohol to ensure any residual inhibition layer is completely removed.

This gives me peace of mind that any residual inhibition layers are completely wiped off.

The Toolkit

Ready to recreate this sunset ombre nail look yourself? Great! Let me share all of the products I used to do it. I know it seems like I used an entire nail supply store to make this nail set, but besides the specific colors used, they’re mostly items you likely already have in your DIY Press-on Nail Starter Kit.

Base & Prep:

Colors:

Finishes & Effects:

Tools:

Top Coat:

Two hands shown side by side on pavement, separated by a purple-to-orange gradient divider, both displaying sunset ombre nails in glitter finishes spanning lavender, teal, magenta, orange, silver, and gold.
Sunset ombre nails, out in the wild.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *